Crawl

This whole song is a double entendre, comparing his despair after ruining his relationship with getting shot in the head.

Waking up zeroed in on medicine Am I waking up at all today Seeing lights, feeling pain There's my cure on ice I can walk but I will crawl there I will crawl there

(The apparent story here is he's waking up and needs medicine, however the symbolic meaning is about his despair driving him to alcoholism. Most people in depression wake up feeling weak and afraid, and they often find something to make them forget they are afraid/sad "Waking up, zeroed in on medicine". In the case of this song that something is alcohol "Seeing light, there's my cure on ice". The later part describes alcoholism perfectly: being so drunk you can't walk but insisting you're not drunk "I CAN walk, but I WILL crawl there", implying he thinks he can walk, but he's crawling there because he "wants" to, even though it's obvious he just can't.)

Sitting straight, feeling faint An exhausted smile screens my words But I will hear them Here's a phrase that we all know But I can't make sense I don't know words but I will hear them I still hear them

(Here his describing a common effect of brain damage, where the victim's language centers are damaged making it impossible for them to understand speech, even though they recognize the sounds involved, coincidently (or not) extreme intoxication has a very similar effect. At the same time he is describing someone in an extreme depression. "Sitting straight, feeling faint" refers to depression victims tendency to hide what they are feeling, his sitting straight [trying to appear healthy] even though inside it hurts. "An exhausted smile screens my words, but I will hear them" is an allusion to depressed people lying about being happy. He also is conveying the feeling of complete ineptness depressed people feel "Here's a phrase that we all know, but I can't make sense" indicating that to him even the simplest tasks seem insurmountable. What makes it worse is he can't come up with a way to express how he feels, and when he tries nobody understands the extent of his desperation, yet they offer hollow, useless advice "I don't know words, but I can hear them, I still hear them")

Never ran away for the sake of scars Tried not to move but she was armed And shots were fired Now a hole in the head of this wounded liar

(He didn't used to be afraid of relationships, even though he's had quite a few end badly "Never ran away for the sake of scars" yet this one affected him differently. He did his best to make this one work "tried not to move". Presumably he was in love: "but she was armed" inferring he was vulnerable against her. In spite of his attempts, this romance ended badly "shots were fired' and it destroyed him "there's a hole in the head of this wounded liar" the interesting part is that using "liar" to represent himself eludes to him being the one at fault for the failure.)

Never had a drink that I didn't like Got a taste of you, threw up all night I got more sick With every sour second rate kiss Everything I never would miss again

(This guy was once a ladies man, looking at women as petty thrills like drinks "never had a drink that I didn't like". However this one hurt him big time, and now he hates himself because of her "Got a taste of you, threw up all night". In the last three lines the guy falls into a denial that the women ever meant anything to him "I got more sick... every thing I never would miss again")

I don't know who your boyfriend

(Outwardly this could mean amnesia [some amnesia is pretty much guaranteed to come with a head wound] but figuratively he sings of how the loss of this woman destroyed his sense of self i.e. he doesn't even know who he is without her.)

I don't understand people who say bands have sold out. I mean how naive can one person be. How can people survive without money? It's not wrong to spread your music to other people. The reality of selling out is that the old fans don't get to feel special anymore by knowing an underground band. You can't wear their t-shirts around anymore because some preppie kid might come up to you and tell you they love the band too. In any case Alkaline Trio are a band that you can always relate to, and listening to them helps you release anger when you feel used and unwanted by girls. The truth is any person in a band like the Alkaline Trio would take any money they could. You only live once and you need to make the most of life. You can't slow down because some teenage-punker doesn't like the new faces at your shows.

no one else notice the ZEROED in to be like 0-ed OD'd???

the best part of this song is the line "never had a drink i didn't like... got a taste of you, threw up all night." it's a great song and i highly recommend it!!!

this song is amazing...no matter how much you listen to it, you can't get sick of it

This is the greatest Alkaline Trio song ever. It expresses every emotion they are feeling as they sing this song and the ending line just sort of seals it.

sure it's a great song, but i definitely don't think it's the best. the trio have definitely written better.

this is such a brilliant song its liek he's weary of thinking bout her..."i don't care who you're boyfriend is"....she's saying like "do you KNOW who my boyfriend is?!" and he's just bored of her and her shit....shes trying to finish him off and give him even more shit even after they broke up. and he's saying he wont miss her again cause teh break up is showing her true colours.....great song love it loads. xxxx

I can relate to this song, where he says "and shots were fired, into the hole of the head of this wounded liar"... it was all i listened to when i broke up with one of my girlfriends... Alk3 is one of the most talented underated bands ever... all who pre-ordered matt skiba's guitar raise your hand raises hand

this song is completely infectious, i get it stuck in my head every single time i hear it. i love all of alk3's songs, but this is definitely up there as one of my favorites. "Never had a drink that I didn't like Got a taste of you, threw up all night" totally my favorite two lines of this song. they're meanful without being sappy. perfect.